Class of 1984

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Class of 1984 is a 1982 film about a new music teacher at a troubled inner city school, where students have to pass through a metal detector due to problems with a gangs, drugs and violence. It was directed by Mark L. Lester and starred Perry King as teacher Andrew Norris, Merrie Lynn Ross (who also co-executive produced) as his wife Diane Norris, Roddy McDowall as Terry Corrigan and Timothy Van Patten as Peter Stegman, the leader of the gang of thugs who terrorize the school. It was one of Michael J. Fox's early roles, before he was a well-established actor. The movie utilized the punk look and image that was becoming part of popular culture in the early 1980s. The movie's theme song, "I Am the Future", was performed by Alice Cooper. The film also features a performance by Canadian punk band Teenage Head.

The movie has often been described, by some critics, as an unofficial remake of The Blackboard Jungle...in which King has the Glenn Ford role, Van Patten has Vic Morrow's, and Fox is in Sidney Poitier's.

The movie was initially released on home video via Vestron Video during the 1980's and was later withdrawn.In 2006,Anchor Bay Entertainment released the film on DVD for the first time in the USA in a Special Edition set.The DVD had audio commentary by Mark L.Lester and a new featurette entitled Blood and Blackboards featuring interviews with Lester and stars Perry King and Merrie Lynn Ross.There was also the original theatrical trailer and two TV spots.

The movie also had two science fiction-themed sequels that were loosely based on the original, Class of 1999 (1990) and the direct to video follow-up Class of 1999 II: The Substitute (1994), the first of which was also directed by Lester.As of this,no US DVD release is scheduled for either of these.They have been released on DVD in many foreign territories,such as Korea and Australia.